Video-Game Sales Plunge to Nine-Year Low

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Video games were supposed to be one of the few "recession proof" industries. While everyone was spending less on pretty much every other aspect of their lives, they were locking themselves in their homes with their new PS3 titles. Even with the recent excitement of E3, game sales took a steep drop in June, down 31 percent to $1.1 billion, NPD reported.

"This is one of the first months where I think the impact of the economy is clearly reflected in the sales numbers," NPD's Anita Frazier said in a statement. "This level of decline is certainly going to cause some pain and reflection in the industry."

That's the single largest monthly drop in nine years--it's larger than analysts had predicted, but just slightly. Game sales dropped 29-percent to $625.7 million, and console sales dropped 38-percent to $382.6 million. Only the Xbox 360 managed to increase in sales for June.

Brian Heater has worked at a number of tech pubs, including Engadget, Laptop, and PCMag (where he served as Senior Editor). Most recently, he was as the Managing Editor of TechTimes.com. His writing has appeared in Spin, Wired, Playboy, Entertainment Weekly, The Onion, Boing Boing, Publishers Weekly, The Daily Beast and various other publications. He hosts the weekly Boing Boing interview podcast RiYL, has appeared as a regular NPR contributor and shares his Queens apartment with a rabbit named Lucy.
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